1. Field of Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to Internet technologies, and more specifically, to online advertising.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Online advertising is one form of marketing where advertisements (ads) are distributed to users generally through a communication network such as the Internet. Advertised products include goods and services. In one typical system, a user utilizes a web browser application program on a personal computer (PC) to access a webpage by supplying a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). The webpage is provided by an online (or web) publisher. Upon accessing the webpage, an advertisement is displayed to the user within a computer interface.
Systems have been developed that display certain advertisements to a user based on information provided by the user, or based on the content of the page which the user is viewing. For example, when the user enters words, phrases, or other terms into an online search engine, advertisements related to the search terms or search results are displayed by the publisher of the web page, which typically is the search engine service. In some instances, the advertisements are chosen based on other information, such as user identification or browsing history. These types and other types of contextual advertising attempt to target the intent of the user (e.g., where the user is shopping for a particular product). Such targeted advertising is known to increase the chance of attracting interest in the advertised product, which in turn increases the value of the advertisement. Advertisers bid for placement of their ads, with the bids reflecting a monetized value of the user's intent, and pay the bid amount to the publisher if and when the ad is displayed.